Smooth Sailing cruise

Sail Date:
February 2011

Destination:
Panama Canal & Central America

Embarkation:
Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

This cruise was as advertised with a stop in Aruba from 7 am to 12:30. The sun wasn't up when we could go onshore. Such a beautiful island to not spend more time. Cartagena was a beautiful city where we booked a private tour with Lee Miles. He has various selections of places he suggests you visit and he was most accommodating in the changes I wanted. The food at La Olla Cartagenera was excellent. Thankfully Elkin was our translator as no one at the restaurant spoke English. We had a van for 4 and our tour guide, Elkin, who spoke perfect English, sat facing us so we were able to converse like old friends. Highly recommended. Lee Miles website is: http://www.destinationcartagena.com/privatetours

The most disappointing part of the trip was our "cruising" Lake Gatun. We went through the first set of locks and parked among the freighters. Everyone wanted to know about the "cruising" around Lake Gatun. Having been through the canal numerous times we missed a great opportunity by More
just being anchored. Princess also took the stop at Cristobal off the itinerary that was originally planned.

The Horizon Court Buffet food was forgettable. The area is small and congested. It got to the point I was not looking forward to lunch. Finally we went to the dining room for lunch and was very satisfied.

Dining room food offerings were not as exotic as previous Princess cruises.

Overall we were very satisfied with the cruise. The ship is well kept except for the furniture on our deck which was corroding and the wood on the railings needed some attention. Less

Cabin review: Island Princess

The shower was so tiny that if you dropped the soap part of you was outside the shower area. Water pressure and shower head were wonderful. Air exchange was excellent.
Nice balcony with 4 chairs and a table. Chair framing needed help as the finish was corroding. Wood railings in all the rooms around us had varnish peeling.

Port and Shore Excursions

Took a cab to the bar closet to the airport. On the way back to the ship we were charged half of what we were charged going to the bar. I am finding taxi drivers are overcharging customers all the time.